The nonprofit wasn’t identified in the federal Securities & Exchange Commission filing, though it was described as a charitable foundation in which Knight, who is also Nike’s co-founder, is a trustee.

Nike’s Class A shares can be converted directly into Class B shares and sold at market value, which is now just under $51 per share. That would give the 1,446,620 shares Knight distributed to the nonprofit a market value of around $74 million.

But the true value of Class A shares is in the power they wield. Holders of Class A shares have the responsibility of electing nine of the Washington County sporting goods behemoth’s 12 board directors -- and Knight controls nearly three-quarters of those shares.

The shares were transferred on the first day Nike stock traded under its most recent two-for-one stock split. Shareholders as of Dec. 10 received two shares for every one they owned, with the price of each share split in half effective Dec. 24.

Such splits -- it was Nike’s sixth in its history -- are intended to make it easier to attract new investors to a lower share price, while retaining value for existing shareholders.\

Transferring the shares to charity did little to dent Knight’s controlling stake in Nike.